The Independence Institute filed a lawsuit Monday in Denver District Court that seeks to block an administrative hearing into whether the nonprofit group has violated state election laws in the debate over Referendums C and D, its attorney said.
Proponents of the state budget-policy ballot questions have accused the Golden research group of failing to register with the state as a campaign committee spending money in the fight. Institute president Jon Caldara, who also heads up a Vote No committee that has registered with the state, says the think tank is guilty of providing educational information but not advocacy.
The new legal filing asks a judge to interpret the state’s constitutional requirements for disclosure and to consider First Amendment concerns raised by a subpoena seeking information about the institute, said its attorney, Dick Kaufman.
The group considered filing in federal court but chose state court instead, he said.
Kaufman said he also would be asking an administrative law judge set to hear the dispute next week to postpone the matter.
“We’re raising issues that she can’t hear or decide in this case,” he said.
